Love Island winner Dani Dyer has said that many of her fellow contestants struggled after their time on the reality show, but that ITV’s producers were “just a phone call away”.
Dyer, who triumphed in last year’s series of the dating show with boyfriend Jack Fincham, spoke about the challenge of going from “literally being no one” to famous “overnight”.
Sophie Gradon, 32, who appeared on season two of the reality show in 2016, was found dead in June last year while 26-year-old Mike Thalassitis, who took part in Love Island in 2017, died this month, raising questions over whether broadcasters bore a responsibility to provide aftercare to contestants.
Speaking on the Jonathan Ross show, Dyer said that Thalassitis’s death was “absolutely devastating for everyone” and that it was “such a shock”.
“It is tough going from literally being no one to then all of a sudden overnight coming out and being someone, it is difficult, you go from one extreme to the other and it’s sad that it ended that way.
“Personally, for me, I’ve always had a relationship with the producers, they’ve always been a phone call away.
“And I know from the other Islanders because we have had struggles, we’ve had moments where we’re like ‘I’m struggling, this is really tough now’.”
Asked by the host if she feels she has been given access to help if needed after her Love Island experience, Dyer said: “Yes I have had that, I have 100% had that fully.
“Before you go in Love Island you do have all that, you do go through tests, you go through loads and loads of tests. You have an STI test.
“All the other proper serious tests, all that is done and afterwards. Even when I came out of Love Island, I’ve got (the show psychologist’s) number and she said ‘Please ring me whenever’ so I did feel like I had that.”
However, the reality TV personality said she has been affected by negative comments on social media.
Dyer, the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, said: “People can be so unkind, things that I would never dream of saying to people, they really hurt so much.
“There could be a thousand nice comments and then someone says something really mean and it does hurt. It is so tough, it really is and you’re walking around and everyone knows who you are a little bit and you get a bit of anxiety.
“But we all try and keep together and I’ve always had a really good friendship with the producers, I think the best thing is to always be open and to talk about how you are feeling.”
The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday March 30 at 9.45pm on ITV.